


Day of Darkness

by Willow_River



Series: Gregor's Past [2]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Fighting, Gen, Hiding, Monsters, OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 04:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5854282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willow_River/pseuds/Willow_River
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's the Day of Darkness really like? Well, anyone who's grown up in Renelan well knows the answer to that, and wisely chooses to stay tucked away indoors where (hopefully) no monsters will find you. Try telling that to a kid who's not only not Renalian, but also not scared of monsters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day of Darkness

“Gregor, what’s going on?” A soft voice called to him.

It was still early in the morning, but everyone was already awake, boarding up the windows and barring the doors. Gregor looked down from his work to where the voice had come from. Willow was crawling out from under her bunk, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. 

“It’s the Day of Darkness, remember? We need to hole up for the day.” The boy returned to nailing a plank of wood into the window frame. It bore many tiny holes from previous years. On the other side of the window could be seen one of the older Outriders nailing boards to the outside of the window. Beyond him, the sky was unusually dark and cloudy. Ominous.

“What are you talking about?” The redhead stood up and stretched, running her fingers through her short crop of hair briefly before deciding to leave it alone for the time being. “What’s the Day of Darkness?”

Gregor didn’t stop his work, though his shock at the girl’s apparent lack of knowledge on this day was still evident. “It’s the day lots and lots of monsters appear and make everything hell outside. They’ll break in and cause a massacre if we don’t make the base secure.”

Willow looked at the boy with mixed doubt and confusion. “We’re hiding from the monsters? What happened to fighting them?”

“You only fight monsters on the Day of Darkness if they get inside,” one of the other boys explained as he walked by with an armload of planks. “It’ll be mad with monsters outside. You go out there and you’re dead in ten minutes, tops.”

Gregor nodded his agreement and returned to his task. He could hear Willow leave the room, but paid her little mind as he moved on to the next window.

He didn’t see the girl again until lunch time, when everything had been tightly secured and everyone had gathered in the centremost room. Willow was about halfway across the room, talking with Aryn between mouthfuls of bread. The boy couldn’t tell if she was concerned or curious as she wrinkled her nose at the older woman and tilted her head like a bird. Cole and Michael were holding most of his attention with a game of marbles, so he didn’t pay her much mind. 

He didn’t notice when she seemed to disappear from the rest of the group. 

He didn’t pay much attention when the sounds of footsteps on the roof mingled with the muted growls and snarls coming from outside. 

Gregor did, however, realize that something was wrong when dinner came around and Willow wasn’t helping to hand out bowls of food like she usually did.

“Hey, have you guys seen Willow anywhere?” He asked the boys seated nearest him. They shrugged and shook their heads.

“Not for at least an hour,” one commented.

Gregor got up and picked his way over to Aryn to ask her.

“She went off to get her journal a while ago. I haven’t seen her since, but I’ve been a bit busy,” she told the boy, looking up from a game of cards she was currently winning.

Gregor was starting to get worried now. What if she was crying in a corner somewhere like during the last storm? Or maybe a monster had gotten in and attacked his friend while she was away from the group. She still wasn’t too good at melee combat yet, and Gregor wasn’t sure she could handle a monster all by herself on the Day of Darkness.

A quick check with Ventis revealed that he hadn’t seen the girl either.

It would probably be a good idea to look for her. Safer to be in pairs on a day like today, afterall. 

Gregor crept through the halls to the dormitory room he and the other recruits his age shared. If Willow had really gone for her journal, that would be where she would have gone. She tended to use the book as a pillow when she decided the floor was preferable to her bunk. 

One quick search revealed the journal to still be there, but no Willow. She wasn’t under any of the other bunks either, and there were no signs of monsters breaking in. “Willow?” Gregor called, as if the girl might materialize if he spoke her name aloud. There was no answer and still no sign of the girl, so the boy returned to the hall and continued creeping along to look for her.

He was about halfway to the next dormitory room when he noticed the distinct tapping sound that only Willow’s boots made when she ran across the roof. There was a thump and an exclamation, followed by more tapping and the snarling of something big.

The roof! Why the girl would go up there today of all days was almost beyond Gregor, but he knew the girl well enough to realize that if there was one thing she certainly wasn’t afraid of, it was monsters. 

There was a ladder up to the roof near the back end of the building. It was the one exit that hadn’t been boarded up or otherwise blocked off, to allow for a way out once the day was over. Gregor headed straight for it, and didn’t hesitate to throw the hatch open, nearly knocking Willow over.

“Wah! Gregor? What are you doing here?” The redhead stumbled before finding her footing again.

“I’m looking for you. What are you doing?”

Willow took a moment to respond as she fired her bow straight at a bilebat that was trying to dive bomb her. The arrow sailed through its wing, but succeeded in crippling the creature enough that it lost all its altitude. The moment the bat hit the roof, Willow punted it away, then turned back to Gregor. 

“Killing monsters. What’s it look like I’m doing?” 

She fired her bow again, this time at an owlbear on the ground, though this time she only managed to graze the beast, drawing an ear piercing screech from it. Her quiver was empty now, but it seemed that she’d prepared for that with at least three more quivers stashed at various points on the roof. “Are you gonna help? It's kinda crazy up here.”

Gregor looked around. There were a lot of monsters about. More than Willow had arrows for, and it was only a matter of time before one managed to sneak up on her. It was an easy decision. Gregor took his glaive from his back and climbed onto the roof with a grin. This was the first year anyone had actually encouraged him to fight monsters on the Day of Darkness. There was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity.

The pair fought well together, Willow taking care of the monsters that were farther away while Gregor handled those that got too close. They were up there for about an hour or two before the arrows were completely spent and the sheer number of monsters was beginning to overwhelm them. They both sustained heavy injuries before Aryn, realizing what was going on, found the pair and hauled them both back inside (though not before getting a few kills in herself).

They were both treated for their wounds and given several very stern lectures before the day was out. 

Everyone slept together in the central room that night. Willow was lying next to Gregor, staring up at the ceiling, before she turned to him.

“Let’s agree to never go out on the Day of Darkness again. That was insane out there.”

Gregor looked down at his bandaged arm and winced at the memory of the monster that had tried to take a bite out of it. “Deal. Pinky swear?” He held out his good arm, pinky finger extended as he smiled at his friend.

“Pft,” Willow chuckled. She linked her pinky with his and squeezed tight. “Pinky swear.”

“Hey, go to sleep already!” One of the boys told them in a stage whisper.

Gregor and Willow grinned at each other and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
